The Sports Tourism Capital of the Future

This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner.

Sport transcends individual differences and unites people globally like nothing else, offering a powerful way to shape and build community. These attributes also underpin the essence of travel and hospitality, which is the underlying reason that live tourism, and sports travel more specifically, has become “unstoppable” in the current phase of growth for the travel industry.  

Driven by mega events, participatory experiences, and the rise of esports and digital fan engagement, global sports tourism is evolving quickly. The sector currently amounts to roughly 10% of global tourism spending and is projected to exceed $1 trillion by the early 2030s, according to a report from Tourism Review News.

New data from PwC, Expedia Group, and Expert Market Research also shows that sports tourism is expanding faster than nearly any other segment of the travel economy, driven by experience-seeking travellers, Gen Z demand for group experiences, and rising investment in mega-events and smart venues worldwide.

In the Middle East, this growth trajectory is particularly pronounced. The region’s sports economy overall is already valued around $600 billion, growing at 8.7% annually — outpacing the global average — with Saudi Arabia hosting more than 100 major sports events since 2019. The Kingdom’s sports sector alone is expected to triple in value to $22 billion by 2030, creating over 100,000 jobs.

From a traveler standpoint, the demand is already there. According to Skift and Qiddiya City data, 75% of global travelers said they would plan a trip specifically to attend a sporting event, and 55% said that they had already traveled internationally to attend a sporting event in the past. Among Millennial and Gen Z travelers, those figures were 82% and 58%, respectively. These two generations together are on track to exceed 50% of global travel spending by 2025, and this trend is expected to continue as Gen Z matures with greater spending power and Millennials remain active travelers.

Tourism around a love of sports is not just about seeing live events, either. As Skift’s Alison McCarthy wrote in a feature about “the new athletic class” of tourists, “Sport [is] a way to connect, express identity, and often, spark the idea behind their next trip. Destinations are taking notice, building races, trails, and courts into their tourism strategies. Hotels, too, are rethinking amenities and programming to meet the moment — not just offering gyms, but curating experiences that keep guests moving and engaged.”

The combination of these shifts in global tourism patterns around love of sports and athletic activities is occurring simultaneously with Qiddiya City’s rise from the ground up, just 40 minutes from Riyadh. The destination “built for play” is an all-in-one play-centered ecosystem. Anchored by major sports projects like the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium, the Speed Park, and the Esports and Gaming District, Qiddiya City is at the center of the future of travel on a global scale.

Beyond Economics: The Lasting Impact of Sports 

Development for sports tourism, as many cities have created while hosting global events like the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games, leaves physical reminders such as stadiums, hotels, amenities, and other infrastructure that endure for decades. These events reinforce the connection between great sporting moments and their settings, which create lasting emotional involvement for visitors, empower everyone involved in them, and strengthen cultural exchange.

“Great sporting moments are rewatched and revisited so often — they reinforce the ties between that experience and its setting,” said Ross McAuley, MD advisor and director general of Play Qiddiya City DMMO.

While these moments and memories provide lasting marketing material, the real test is how well a destination holds up in the wake of major events. 

“In destination management, if we get it right, the right sporting events and tournaments intertwine the city or the country with something bigger — the history of the sport and the passion of those loyal fans,” said McAuley.

Of course, many destinations have had built-for-purpose infrastructure created for major events, which often goes unused after the circus leaves town. Yes, Saudi Arabia has been announced as the host country for the 2034 FIFA World Cup, but Qiddiya City had long been planned prior to that decision being made, pre-emptively seeing the opportunity to host major events and building around them, instead of reverse engineering after the fact. 

That’s why an F1 track intertwined through the heart of the city and a dedicated Esports and Gaming district are also in the development pipeline as the destination anticipates becoming a global center for sports, leading to a sustainable flow of year-round visitation. 

Recently, Qiddiya City hosted Extreme H in the shadow of the Tuwaiq Escarpment, the cliff rising 300 meters from the Saudi Arabian desert that will become part of the cityscape. Called the “successor to the all-electric Extreme E series,” Extreme H includes vehicles engineered to race with hydrogen fuel cells, pushing the boundaries of automotive technology and sustainability. 

“Qiddiya City is built on three experiential pillars — one of which is sport, along with entertainment and culture. But if you look at sport specifically, sport is the world’s most universal language of play, and it’s also our fastest path to year-round visitation as a destination,” McAuley said. “Live sport really converts passion into travel, and we see it already globally driving high-intent trips, extended stays, repeat visitation — and that’s only set to continue.”

How Sports Create Community and Cultural Impact 

Hosting major global events is essential to driving massive tourism flows, infrastructure investment, and destination branding. The main question for any sporting destination is not only what it can do to attract people but also whether it is memorable enough to keep them coming back time and again. 

For example, Qiddiya City’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium will exemplify how sports infrastructure becomes a year-round tourism driver. An avid football fan may travel to the World Cup no matter where it takes place, but if the in-stadium and destination experience stands above and apart from anything else they’ve seen, they may return just for the atmosphere. 

“TV can’t deliver three things: proximity, participation, and place,” said McAuley. “What’s different about our approach to sports tourism versus other destinations is that we’re not an events park. We’re a living city where sport, entertainment, and culture are integrated by design.”

In other words, an integrated master plan — stadiums, circuits, arenas, hotels, retail, public space, and mobility — is all planned as one connected experience. The idea is that in the future, people will travel to Qiddiya City to see any sporting event because of the fully immersive experience it offers both inside and outside the arena. 

That means proximity, which is about sight lines and acoustics and that feeling of excitement when the roar builds in the stadium; participation, which means fan activations such as augmented reality (AR) wayfinding, mixed reality replays, meet the pros, and skill zones before, during, and after the event; and finally place, in the sense that Qiddiya City is built on the Tuwaiq Mountains, providing a unique sense of context and backdrop.

“When you actually go and visit and stand at the edge, it’s a completely different feeling,” said McAuley. “Our edge is combining that place, event, and participation — mixing it together for a unique and unforgettable experience.”

Qiddiya City is not only a tourism center, it’s also a working city. As such, its growth and economic development are integrally connected to the quality of everyday life. Like its dedication to the gaming and esports industry, through which the city is attracting regional headquarters of major gaming companies, Qiddiya City will be offering year-round events and training camps to spread out visitation and occupancy, reinforcing its identity as a city ecosystem where residents, visitors, and talent intersect.

“Once residents move in, this emphasis on sport builds healthy lifestyles. A lot of our value proposition is about pathways — from youth to elite — turning a passion or hobby into the ability to train and bring on athletes to a high international standard,” said McAuley. “Ultimately, we want Qiddiya City to be the region’s home for live sport and active living.”

All of this is happening underneath the mandate of Vision 2030 and in context with Saudi Arabia’s wider investment in sports. Qiddiya City and other destinations across the country are working in tandem with the Ministry of Sport and other bodies to coordinate opportunities across different sports including football, boxing, MMA, tennis, golf, motorsports, and equestrian, and of course gaming and esports as well. 

“The development of the sports sector is Vision 2030 in action, and from that perspective, there are two things,” said McAuley. “First, how 33 million Saudis get access to world-class sporting events, and second, through tourism, how we create economic and job opportunities. In that context, sport really multiplies value.”

As the global tourism landscape evolves, Qiddiya City isn’t just responding to a trend, it’s setting a new global benchmark for what a sports destination can be by blending professional sport, lifestyle, and entertainment into one integrated experience, all underneath the umbrella of a comprehensive strategy for a future-forward metropolis. 

For extensive research and deeper insights into the power of play and its impact on the future of global tourism, download the report from Skift and Qiddiya City.

This content was created collaboratively by Qiddiya City and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX.